Group hacks U.S. law enforcement sites, steals data

All but one of the
Mississippi and Louisiana sheriff's offices on a hackers' list appeared
unaware that their websites were down Saturday, let alone that any
sensitive information on those sites might have been published online.

View full sizeAssociated Press archiveThe hacking group said its actions were in retaliation for arrests of its sympathizers in the U.S. and Britain.

At
least seven sheriff's offices in Mississippi and one in Louisiana were
among about 70 law enforcement websites that the group called Anonymous
said Saturday that it had hacked, stealing data in retaliation for
arrests of its sympathizers in the U.S. and Britain.

But
Tishomingo County, Miss., was the only one of those eight where someone
on duty when The Associated Press called Saturday even knew the website
was down. The person also knew about the hacking allegations.

In
Jefferson County, Sheriff Peter E. Walker said he had no knowledge about
any hacking. "As soon as we're back up and rolling on Monday, if
something happened we'll be aware of it," he said.

Other sheriff's
office sites on the group's list and not working Saturday were in
Cameron Parish, La., and Adams, George, Prentiss, Tate and Tunica
counties in Mississippi.

In Tishomingo County, Edric Parish said
the sheriff's office's information technology director was aware of the
problem. "They immediately shut it down -- the actual host -- until they
got the problem resolved. The FBI is aware of it and is working on it,"
he said.

The website's host, Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing Inc., would
have to answer any other questions, including those about what
information was in the site's database for Tishomingo County, he said.

Brooks-Jeffrey told The Associated Press in Little Rock, Ark., that it would not comment.

The
hacking group claimed that stolen data included emails, credit card
details and other information from local law enforcement bodies.

"We
are releasing a massive amount of confidential information that is sure
to (embarrass), discredit and incriminate police officers across the U.S.," the group said in a statement, adding that it hoped the leak would
"demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using
their own words" and "disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate
and terrorize communities."

In Cameron Parish, Deputy James Cox
said the sheriff's office website held only general information about
the department, such as officials' names and phone numbers.

The
Tunica County Sheriff's Office website held general information and a
list of people who had been booked, with names and photographs and
whether they'd been bonded out -- but not their Social Security numbers,
said Lt. Persundra Jones.

"If they hacked into our basic system in
the county, that'd be different," she said. "But the online system
didn't have any of that" sensitive information.